Teaching

Many of us struggle with effective ways to teach those around us the things we know to be true. We don't want to be perceived as "preachy" or make the person feel belittled in anyway and fears such as these often make us not say anything at all about our beliefs. There is a wonderful article in this month's Ensign entitled "Teaching True Doctrine" by President Henry B. Erying. He outlines powerful reasons to share our beliefs as well as meaningful ways to do so. He encourages us to keep messages simple and begin teaching early and sharing often eternal truths with the young.

I love these and many other lessons in his message, but I felt most strengthened in his counsel regarding those who are not necessarily receptive to hearing what we have to teach. President Erying says, "truth can prepare its own way. Simply hearing the words of doctrine can plant the seed of faith in the heart. And even a tiny seed of faith in Jesus Christ invites the Spirit." I am grateful that in teaching, as well as all other efforts in the gospel, we do not have to rely upon our merits alone to succeed. As President Erying has reminded us, eternal truths, simply upon being heard, will plant a seed in the recipient that will invite the Spirit into that person's life. I know that it can sometimes be overwhelming to teach others, but I also know that we can simply and surely plant the seeds of truth that can lead others to true happiness.

The Noise of Worship

Growing up in a Protestant faith I was used to quiet Sunday services. Hymns were sung with enthusiasm, prayers were said, but unnecessary audience participation was rarely heard. The community of my youth was predominantly LDS and it was a running joke among those outside of the Mormon faith at the noise level of their main Sunday meeting - sacrament meeting. Attending these meetings did little to dispute the stereotype as I observed children moving in and out of pews and parents trying to corral activities and voices. Before I had children I vowed that I would never add to the irreverent activities that I witnessed during my conversion process. But, as motherhood has taught me once and again, I should certainly never say never. My husband and I do the best we can to help our little ones learn reverence and respect for Sunday services, but it is admittedly a long process with very slow results.

Why doesn't our church have a nursery program during sacrament meeting? Wouldn't the added reverence surely help people worship more fully? These questions may have occurred to many a tired parent, but there is a very simple reason why we include all ages in our worship services: the Spirit can testify truth to even the very young (and sometimes disruptive) members of a congregation. Why it would certainly be easier to have young children in a different room, even the very small can learn about eternal truths by being present when they are taught. In a wonderful article that appeared in the Ensign, Joan Hughes and Helen Hughes recounted some important scriptural lessons about children:

"When the Savior ministered to the Nephites following His Resurrection, He
took care to include the children in the transcendent acts of worship that took
place. It is recorded that “he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.” He said to the multitude, “Behold your little ones.” The adults watched in awe as angels descended “as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and … the angels did minister unto them” (3 Nephi 17:21, 23, 24).

Our children were not there; nor were they present during the Savior’s mortal ministry when He said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14). Yet our children are also precious to Him, and their hearts can be touched by the Holy Ghost. One of His opportunities to so touch our children is in sacrament meeting, the sacred worship service held in His name for all Church members."

We invite all to attend their local LDS church meetings. We hope that you will feel of the reverence that church members have during sacrament meeting and you will be patient with the little ones that are also there to learn more of our Heavenly Father's plan for all of us.

For LDS parents, two great articles about helping your child learn reverence are found here and here. It is certainly a work in progress in our family! If you have any suggestions for helping children learn these traits, I would certainly love to hear any advice.

Happy Easter!

I hope the Easter Day we can all remember our Savior, His great sacrifice for us, and that He lives and loves us so much!

Relief Society

The Church of Jesus Christ has an amazing organization for women called the Relief Society. This group includes all women, ages 18 and older, and gives those involved the opportunities to learn and serve together. Recently, my ward had a wonderful lesson on the Relief Society Declaration and I have since been studying the powerful points in this message. We were given the challenge to focus on one point and work to improve in that area. I hope that we can all review these powerful ideas and implement them more fully into our lives.

Relief Society Declaration

We are beloved spirit daughters of God, and our lives have meaning, purpose, and direction. As a worldwide sisterhood, we are united in our devotion to Jesus Christ, our Savior and Exemplar. We are women of faith, virtue, vision, and charity who:

~Increase our testimonies of Jesus Christ through prayer and scripture study.

~Seek spiritual strength by following the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

~Dedicate ourselves to strengthening marriages, families, and homes.

~Find nobility in motherhood and joy in womanhood.

~Delight in service and good works.

~Love life and learning.

~Stand for truth and righteousness.

~Sustain the priesthood as the authority of God on earth.

~Rejoice in the blessings of the temple, understand our divine destiny, and strive for exaltation.

Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice

I love General Conference and the amazing opportunity everyone has to listen to the words of inspired leaders. In troubled times like these, messages of hope and strength will probably be especially meaningful to many. We invite all to participate in the 179th Annual General Conference. If the sessions that occur this Saturday or Sunday are not shown on your television, they can also be viewed online. The words of the following hymn seem particularly poignant leading up to this weekend's events.

Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice
(lyrics from hymn #21)

1. Come, listen to a prophet’s voice,
And hear the word of God,
And in the way of truth rejoice,
And sing for joy aloud.
We’ve found the way the prophets went
Who lived in days of yore.
Another prophet now is sent
This knowledge to restore.
2. The gloom of sullen darkness spread
Thru earth’s extended space
Is banished by our living Head,
And God has shown his face.
Thru erring schemes in days now past
The world has gone astray;
Yet Saints of God have found at last
The straight and narrow way.
3. ’Tis not in man they put their trust
Nor on his arm rely.
Full well assured, all are accursed
Who Jesus Christ deny.
The Savior to his people saith,“Let all my words obey,
And signs shall follow living faith,
Down to the latest day.”
4. Then heed the words of truth and light
That flow from fountains pure.
Yea, keep His law with all thy might
Till thine election’s sure,
Till thou shalt hear the holy voice
Assure eternal reign,
While joy and cheer attend thy choice,
As one who shall obtain.

Text: Joseph S. Murdock, 1822–1899. Verse four, Bruce R. McConkie, 1915–1985. © 1985 IRI

A Message from the Church: Why We Have Temples

These are a couple messages from the church that were posted on the church website concerning temples as an answer to the questions and rumors that have been recently circulating throughout the media and the world.

And now for my next trick...

In the Book of Mormon there is a story of a prophet named Nephi who had been tied up with cords by his wicked brothers who were going to leave him to die in the wilderness. Nephi prays to the Lord to be delivered from his brothers and asks that he can have "strength that [he] may burst [those] bands with which [he] was bound" (1 Nephi 7:17). Nephi is a righteous man and has some serious faith so the Lord does in fact deliver him. What is interesting however is that he is not given the strength to burst these cords, but the Lord simply loosens the cords from off Nephi's hands and feet and his is free (1 Nephi 7:18).
I think life is like that a lot of times. In faith we will pray for something extraordinary to happen, like having the strength to burst some cords, but what ends up happening is something somewhat less remarkable, cords being loosened. Loosening cords is just as effective as bursting them if the goal is freedom, and perhaps even better because now Nephi has some perfectly good rope to use in the future. The real question is whether or not we recognize the hand of the Lord in those very effective, but somewhat less remarkable blessing we receive in life. Nephi could have rationalized that his brothers were pretty poor knot-tiers and that the cords sort of loosened on their own, but being the righteous man that he was I'm sure he recognized the hand of the Lord instead of just relying on his own strength or good luck. I know that the Lord is involved in every person's life and gives us blessings big and small. I pray that we can recognize those blessings and their divine source.